The 12th of Never - Prologue
by ccbloom1066
Summary: Beginning directly after the end of the movie Beaches, The 12th of Never follows the trials and tribulations of actress, singer and Broadway star extraordinaire, Cee Cee Bloom as she navigates the pitfalls stardom and motherhood. After her best friend dies, Cee Cee is responsible for the woman's daughter, Victoria, and must juggle her own hectic life while raising a child.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

1

**Hollywood Bowl - Los Angeles, California **

**September 1988**

She had tried her best not to get star struck. She really had. But it was just impossible. Cee Cee had walked with her across the stage and up the stairs and Victoria had somehow managed to hold it together. She'd actually been able to talk to her like everything was just peachy keen and exactly the same as it had been before the show, but it had been very hard, because everything wasn't _exactly_ the same. And to make matters worse, Cee Cee had still been wearing her costume from the last song of the concert. This fact had necessitated that Victoria _will_ herself not to look up at her or else the little girl would have been forced to realize that the person who was holding her hand wasn't her friend, Cee Cee, at all but was instead this larger than life musical Goddess that Cee Cee had somehow managed to morph herself into while she was up there on that stage. The young girl couldn't believe what she'd just witnessed. The concert Cee Cee had let her watch from the wings had been just about the best thing Victoria had ever experienced. Suddenly, it seemed that Cee Cee had stopped being Cee Cee and had instead become this superhuman entity with the voice of an angel. How on earth could this divine diva have any use at all for little kids... especially ones who were as freaked out as Victoria now felt?

So, when Cee Cee entered the door with the big star on it and her name stenciled in gold letters, Victoria stopped dead. The door to the dressing room stood wide open, but the little girl didn't follow Cee Cee inside. Instead, she stayed behind in the hallway and peered in as if there was an invisible barrier that separated the room Cee Cee'd just entered from the corridor in which the young girl stood.

There were two big racks of sequined gowns and clothes that Cee Cee wore in her show in one corner. And, in the middle of the room, right across from the little girl, was a big make-up table with a mirror in front of it. Cee Cee (the Goddess version) now sat in a chair facing the mirror, which was encircled by little round light bulbs.

Mesmerized, Victoria gazed intently at Cee Cee's reflection... carefully studying her features up close for the first time since before the concert.

The face of the Goddess that was reflected in the mirror was the ultimate in perfection. The complexion was like strawberries and cream, flawlessly smooth and the skin looked as soft as the velvety petals of a rose. The high cheekbones were flushed with just the perfect tinge of rouge, the hazel eyes sparkled beneath long, luxurious lashes and the lids were smoky with just the right amount of shadow. The mouth was full and perfectly outlined against the rest of the face, the lips were a brilliant crimson color that somehow perfectly matched the mane of red hair, which was, of course, perfectly coifed. The Goddess looked like one of those old glamour photographs Victoria remembered seeing of movie stars from the '40s and '50s... people like Ava Gardner, Lauren Bacall and even Marilyn Monroe. Beautiful, yet not quite real looking. Like some kind of porcelain doll come to life. The Goddess in the mirror bore only a slight resemblance to the woman Victoria knew as Cee Cee Bloom... only the unmistakable nose and the familiar squint of the eyes betrayed the illusion. And, as Victoria stared at the Goddess, the Goddess stared back at Victoria.

"Well, are you gonna come in or what?", Cee Cee asked Victoria's reflection. But the child only continued to gape at her like she'd sprouted another head or two.

_What the hell has gotten into her? This is all you need. Victoria to go and freak out on you now. You can barely hold yourself together as it is, never mind a 10 year old. Guess it would've helped your emotional state considerably if you hadn't had the brilliant idea of dedicating both "Wind Beneath My Wings" __and__ "Glory of Love" to Hillary tonight. Almost didn't make it through them without bawling your eyes out. But, Hillary really did deserve a tribute of some kind. Looks like it really did a number on the kid, though. Well, of course, it did, Bloom, you stupid shit! Hill __was__ her mother! Should've thought of that before you did such a inconsiderate thing! _

Cee Cee turned around. "What's wrong, honey?"

_As if you don't already know._

Victoria's eyes were glazed over. Not looking _at_ Cee Cee, but looking through her like some crazy little girl version of a 'Stepford Wife'. "You...", she said, "you _really are_ famous." When she said the last word, her voice had such a tremulous quality to it that it made the little hairs on the back of Cee Cee's neck stand on end.

_Shit! This could __not__ be happening. _

Cee Cee smiled as warm a smile as she could muster.

_ At least she didn't mention your song selection. That was something. Still, though... seems like you managed to freak her out pretty good... poor kid looks like she's gonna just burst into tears right here in front of you!_

"Just like Marilyn..." the child spoke so softly, Cee Cee she wasn't sure she even heard her correctly.

_What!? Surely the kid didn't just say..._

"Marilyn? As in Monroe?" Cee Cee almost laughed out loud at the very idea that she possessed any similarity whatsoever to the sex goddess of the century.

But, she thought she saw the girl give her a nearly imperceptible nod.

_Oh God, how long have you waited to hear someone tell you __that__!?_

"Well, gee...", Cee Cee cocked her head from side to side and her back seemed to straighten up almost of its own volition as she considered the notion. "What a nice thing to say." she replied, her lips sliding easily into her signature megawatt smile as she allowed herself to bask in the compliment's warmth for a moment. "You really think so?"

She turned her head and gazed over her shoulder briefly at her reflection in the mirror.

_You __wish__! Back to reality, baby. You don't look a __thing__ like Marilyn! Just get over yourself, Bloom. This kid has obviously lost it! Nice thought while it lasted, though._

Cee Cee sighed. "Well, in my _dreams _maybe, but thanks anyway, honey," she smiled. "And, as for being famous... well, yeah, I guess I am... kinda... But since when has that made any difference? I mean, I don't expect you to fall down and wet your pants or anything."

There was no reaction.

"Tough room.", Cee Cee mumbled under her breath.

The child's stare remained blank, vacant eyes fixated on some unseen point in the distance.

_Okay, just when the hell did this turn into an episode of The Twilight Zone? _

"I mean, I'm not _that _famous. Not famous enough for you to go all catatonic on me here, kiddo. Okay?"

The child's bottom lip was starting to quiver and Cee Cee was starting to panic.

_Oh hell... say something to her... quick! _

_ Shit, what? _

_ No freaking clue! _

_ But __some__thing! Dammit. __Any__thing! Before she starts to..._

"Uh... C-Come on in, honey. I know it _does _look pretty scary in here. But you know me, I ain't exactly June Cleaver."

"Who?"

"You know, _Leave it to_...", she waved the question away, "Never mind."

_What the hell had Hillary been thinking of when she picked you for this gig anyway?_

"Honey, if you'll come in, I'll let you help me take off this coat of paint I'm wearing. How does that sound?", she said, grabbing a wet sponge and starting in on the make-up that was caked all over her face.

"Paint?", Victoria parroted, still lost in Rod Serling-ville.

_When did this happen anyway? She was fine just a second ago. Just a __second_

_ago! You were telling her about how you and Hill met in Jersey and she was fine... now this? What the hell set her off? _

"Yeah.", Cee Cee tried again, "This damned pancake make-up, honey. You and I

both know I don't get out of bed in the morning looking like this!", she gave the little girl what she hoped was an encouraging smile. "All just part of the grand illusion this business we call show, I suppose."

The little girl still seemed reluctant, but gave a small nod and took a cautious step toward Cee Cee, finally clearing the threshold of the door. Her eyes still glassy and unseeing.

_Ahh! Progress! This is great! Now, just don't blow it!_

"I really can't stand the stuff, though, you know. Makes me look like some kind of permanent resident of Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum or even worse, just a plain old garden variety mannequin! I don't even recognize my own self half the time with this junk plastered all over my face! But, with all these damned freckles of mine, I have to just layer it on like it's shellac or something. It's the only way to cover all of them up! Some times this having red hair thing can be a real pain in the uh... neck."

"Freckles!", the little girl seemed to perk up a bit. "Just like mine!" She was actually smiling now.

_Thank God! This is working! Now just keep it going!_

"Exactly like yours! And, hey, come to think of it, isn't it about time for another

"freckle count"? I can't even remember the last time we-"

"You're the best singer I ever saw!", the little girl suddenly blurted. She said it

with such awe and reverence that Cee Cee had to look around to see if maybe Ella

Fitzgerald had somehow mysteriously materialized right next to her or something.

_Christ, that sounded just like Hillary! __Just__ like her. She had that same fucked up crazy reaction. Like she didn't think you were real or something. My God, she even said the very same thing. That first time. In Atlantic City. When she heard you sing in the Sammy Pinker's Kiddie Show._

Cee Cee shivered as she felt goose bumps raise on the backs of her arms. _Shit!_

_Deja Vu. _

Victoria's cheeks were flushed and her eyes were wet with barely contained tears. Cee Cee could see that the child was actually trembling.

_ No! No! No! What the hell just happened? Everything was going so well! The freckle thing seemed to be working, she was smiling and everything. What now? More tears? Please, God, not that again!_

"Shit, honey don't cry..."

_Oh __that__ was good, you schlep. Set a real example for the kid, why don't you?_

"I mean, Victoria... Honey, please don't cry. It's okay. C'mon, it's me. _Me._ You know, dumb old Cee Cee. The one you reamed out on a daily basis at the beach house last summer.", she said. Then she laughed, "The way you're carrying on, you'd think I was the fuhh- udgingQueen of Sheba or something. Well, believe me, honey, I most certainly am not. So please... please stop crying."

Victoria nodded.

"Although...", Cee Cee said, "my manager did tell me once that I should become a Disco Queen."

A shy little smile made its way across the girl's face, "Did you?"

"Are you kidding? No. I fired the son of uhhh... gun."

Vicki grinned, "Yeah, Disco sucks."

"_Victoria!_ I'm surprised at you.", Cee Cee tried to make her voice sound stern, but it was hard. What she wanted to do was laugh hysterically.

_When the kid was right..._

"Am I gonna have to wash your mouth out? Where on earth did you ever hear a word like that?"

Vicki blushed, "My mother.", she said and looked down at her Bass weeguns.

"Huh?"

"My mother, Cee Cee. She told me that when we were in a record shop and I wanted her to buy me your _Disco Diva_ album."

"Oh she did, did she?"

Vicki nodded.

The next thing Cee Cee wanted to say was something along the lines of 'Well, no matter who said it, nice little girls shouldn't repeat words like that.'. But before she could get it out she had this vision of Hillary Whitney, the most prim and proper person she'd ever met, saying the word "sucks" and she found herself doubled over with laughter. It was kind of like Audrey Hepburn letting go with something like "muther fucker".

"Oh my _God!_ Your mother said _that_?"

Vicki was incredulous. "Well... yeah. And she didn't buy it for me."

Cee Cee laughed. "I don't blame her, honey. I wouldn't buy it either. And I recorded the damn thing. But, if you play your cards right, you might talk me into letting you listen to it sometime."

The child's eyes lit up, "Really?"

Cee Cee nodded. "Yeah, sure."

Victoria rushed forward, throwing her arms around Cee Cee's neck with unbridled little girl glee. Cee Cee pulled her close and hugged her tight against her bosom.

She hadn't been expecting it, so Cee Cee was caught off her guard and for a second it startled her to find that she was a little bit misty eyed herself. "Honey, I think this is gonna be the beginning of a beauty-ful friendship."

"Good. Cause you really are the best singer I ever saw, Cee Cee. You're just... excellent."

Cee Cee laughed. "Oh really? Well, I guess I should count my blessings, at least you didn't say I was 'totally tubular' or something."

"What's that, Cee Cee?"

"You're asking the wrong person, kiddo. I'm completely clueless."

Victoria giggled. "Yeah, me, too."

_Well, hot damn! An actual full fledged little girl giggle. Finally! __Finally__, it looks like it's going to be okay. Crossing fingers._

"So, I guess it just goes to prove that you're 10 and I'm 41 and we're _both_ out of touch.", she said and smiled at the little girl. "But you know it's really kinda funny that you should say that about me. Did you know that your mother said I was the 'best singer _she_ ever saw' the day we met in Atlantic City?"

Victoria took her head from Cee Cee's shoulder and looked at her. _Really_ looked at her for the first time since before the concert Cee Cee'd just given. "She did?"

"Uh-huh. But, jeez, I don't know why I affect everyone that way when they first see me perform. It's really scary. People think I won't be me after they see me onstage for some reason. They don't realize I'm just the same old dumb broad I was 2 1/2 hours before. I don't understand it. But just cause I can sing pretty good, people think I'm a hero or something impossible like that. It's crazy."

"You don't just sing 'pretty good' Cee Cee, you sing... better than anybody."

"Yeah, yeah...", waving her comments away, "Enough with the compliments here, kid. Even my tit- uh, toes are blushing."

Vicki laughed. "Well, it's true."

"Yeah? I sure wish somebody would tell that Madonna gal that. But, thanks anyway.", she said and turned back to her reflection in the mirror.

"Oh, Cee Cee! Do you _know_ her?"

"Who, Madonna?"

"Yeah!", Victoria said with unconcealed excitement.

"Sure. I've met her a couple of times."

"What's she like?"

"Well, actually, nothing like you'd expect. She was quite "proper" as my British friends would say. Even ladylike. Very well spoken and very intelligent and not at all a gutter mouth... unlike _some_ people we all know and love!", she said with a wink.

"Really? Madonna? 'Proper?' I don't believe you."

"It's true! All that controversial stuff and the bad language and the sex talk, that's all just for show... to "shake people up" I believe is the way she put it. See, honey, everyone in show business is lying just a little bit about the way they really are... some lie more than others... people like Madonna and yes, even yours truly, are playing characters for the public. But, I'm sure you know all about that by now.", Cee Cee grinned.

Victoria looked at her pensively. "Well, I guess I can see what you mean. That's pretty bizarre, though."

"This is a bizarre business, honey."

Victoria considered this. "But, Cee Cee, to me, it seems that your image in the press is just about the same as you really are."

"Well, my public persona is closer to the real me than Madonna's, but there's still quite a bit of the real me that I don't ever show to the general public... only a select few of my closest family and friends really get to know the _true _craziness that is Cee Cee Bloom."

"And, I'm one of the 'select few'?"

"Yep! You sure are, kiddo.", Cee Cee said, then rolled her eyes. "Heaven help us both!"

Victoria laughed as Cee Cee went back to dabbing at her make-up with a wet sponge.

The little girl just sat and watched her for a long time. Her new mother. Cee Cee Bloom: Entertainer Extraordinaire.

Now that she thought about it, Victoria remembered that shortly before her mother had died, even in her weakened condition, she'd attempted to prepare Victoria for seeing Cee Cee perform live. Her mother had told her it would be something Victoria would never forget. That Cee Cee absolutely held her audiences in her "thrall" for two hours. It was a word Victoria had never heard and when she asked her mom what it meant, Hillary had just smiled and shook her head, "You'll find out.", she'd told her. And, of course, now she had "found out" just that. What Cee Cee did to a crowd was so indescribable that it was no wonder her mother couldn't put it into words. Neither could Victoria. It was just so incredible how Cee Cee, with her voice alone, was capable of doing so much to so many.

It was hard for Victoria to wrap her mind around everything she'd just seen and she realized she'd just have to forget about trying to tell Cee Cee just how much her performance had affected her. Not only her but every other person in the auditorium that night. Maybe Cee Cee knew instinctively, but Victoria didn't think so. It felt to her as if Cee Cee had been singing _only_ to her and her alone. She had a command of the audience that was astonishing... like she literally held them... their very emotions... in her hand and it was at her whim whether they were laughing hysterically or sobbing profusely, but it was control that was given to her willingly and without hesitation. Mostly because, and this was even more amazing, it was as if Cee Cee had somehow allowed everyone inside herself as well... some kind of sharing of her very soul... a meshing of her being... her personality with the whole crowd. Victoria had never seen anything like it. Even though she was only 10, she'd been to plenty of concerts... her mom had loved music and had taken her to see many shows. From Madonna to U2 to Frank Sinatra to even Barbra Streisand (when she was very little), she'd never seen _any_thing to even come close to what she'd just witnessed her "new mom" accomplish onstage in a mere 2 hours. Victoria couldn't believe how ignorant she had been of Cee Cee's abilities.

For one thing, she'd never really heard Cee Cee sing. Well, she'd heard her just fooling around at the beach house and she'd heard her records, of course. But she'd never heard her "live". And, the reality of it was unbelievable. She was perfect. Every note. Every word. Every syllable. She sang like it was the most important thing in the world. So urgent and so real. This was so much, much more than just a record; it was Cee Cee's whole being... her entire essence... projected to the heavens. The most emotional part of the show had come when Cee Cee had dedicated two songs to Victoria's mother... and they had both nearly ripped Victoria's heart out. But the thing that was so strange and wonderful and unique about Cee Cee was that emotional roller coaster thing she did with her audiences. She could just absolutely waste a whole crowd with a ballad and then literally turn on a dime and have that same crowd laughing so hard they were crying yet again, but for a whole different reason. It was like everything all at once... comedy and tragedy... yin and yang all coalesced together in the person of Cee Cee Bloom. Her favorite thing to do seemed to be to tell a bunch of jokes; some of them so dirty that Victoria didn't even understand them, some of them just straight ahead funny; then suddenly just drop everything, stop dead and segue seamlessly into a devastating ballad. It was fantastic and Victoria had never experienced anything like it in her life. She was awestruck. There was no way she could've ever prepared herself for this feeling.

It was weird, though, Cee Cee seemed just like her old self now and she certainly wasn't treating Victoria any differently than she ever had. But on that stage, she'd been so regal, so refined, so elegant. It was hard for Victoria to switch gears from the diva onstage to just plain old Cee Cee again. Still, even with all the trouble she was having reconciling Cee Cee the Goddess with Cee Cee the "real person", Victoria understood that she was probably the luckiest kid on earth. This incredible woman, this... force of nature... was now going to be her mother. She got to spend the rest of her life with this magical, bigger than life lady who gave so much of herself to every single person who saw her perform.

And, it thrilled her to no end to realize she was going to get to experience... what was it Cee Cee had called it?... 'the true craziness that was Cee Cee Bloom' from now on til forever.

She was going to like this. Oh yeah, she was going to like this a lot!

Cee Cee stood up and gave herself a once over in the make-up mirror.

"Oh my God. What's wrong with this picture?", she asked.

"What?"

"Me. Just look at me. God, I'm getting so_ old! _Look at those crow's feet, would you? Talking about Madonna, nubile little minx that she is, sure isn't helping matters. And look at that, I'm starting to squint. Damn. I hate it when I squint. I look just like Connie Chung."

"Who's that?"

"Never mind.", she looked down at her dress. "Well, I'm gonna needyour help to get out of this monstrosity of a dress, kiddo. So don't go freaking out on me again,okay?"

Victoria nodded.

"Good. By the time I get my old clothes back on, you'll really see what I mean about not being so faaaaab-ulous. Hey, maybe that's why Madonna is _so_ popular. Sure, there's all that controversial stuff, but the fact is that damn broad looks good in or out of her clothes. The hussy. Funny how that works, isn't it?"

"Oh c'mon, Cee Cee. You don't look that bad."

"_'That _bad_'_, huh? Gee, thanks."

"No, I didn't mean..."

"I know what you meant. Anyway, let's hope we don't have to see _all_ the damage up close and personal shall we? Suffice it to say that Harrison Ford isn't exactly beating my door down.", she said, then straightened her back.

"Here, unzip me, your highness."

Vicki caught the top of the zipper at the back of Cee Cee's evening gown and carefully began to slide it down. "Harrison Ford is married. I read it in _People_ magazine."

"Oh? You read _People_?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well... Mel Gibson, then."

"He's married too. I read _that_ in _Us_ magazine."

"You read _Us_, too, huh?"

"Yep."

"Damn. Well, how about that cute bartender on "Cheers"? What's his name? Ted Danson."

"Married."

"_Premiere_, right?"

Vicki laughed. "Uh-huh. August issue. Sorry, Cee Cee."

"You know, this is getting really depressing.", she said, kicking off her six inch high spiked heels and standing flat footed in front of the mirror. With the shoes removed, she was only a few inches taller than Victoria herself.

"Wow, Cee Cee, you're so _short!_", Victoria said in amazement.

"Okay now, don't start with me, Victoria!", Cee Cee said, holding up a finger in the little girl's face in mock irritation, "You saw me barefooted all summer at the beach house and you didn't make any cracks or even seem to notice."

"I know I did, but I guess I just forgot and seeing you taking off those heels like that just made it so much more... obvious."

"Good word," Cee Cee said, "So, I was the runt of the litter, what do you want from me?"

"Nothing. I just think that it's really kinda neat how such a big, giant voice can come from such a tiny person."

"Oh, so it's a compliment?"

Victoria nodded. "Oh, of course!"

"Well, all right, then.", Cee Cee gave her a dazzling smile, "In that case, I'll let you by with it, kiddo.", she said, eyes sparkling.

Cee Cee turned back to the mirror and drew the burgundy velveteen gown off her shoulders then let it drop to the floor around her ankles where she stepped out of it lithely. She was wearing a lacy, white strapless corset and an ivory colored half slip underneath. The corset buoyed her breasts up like two large half moon shaped melons that jiggled effusively every time she moved. Victoria's eyes nearly popped out of her head when she saw the size of them.

Cee Cee caught her reaction and laughed out loud. "Oh, I forgot... the three of you have never been properly introduced.'" She looked down at her cleavage, "Girls," Cee Cee said, "meet Victoria." Then, she looked up at the little girl. "Victoria, may I present... 'the girls!'" She swiped her hand underneath her breasts like one of Barker's Beauties showing off a brand new washer/dryer on _The Price Is Right_.

The little girl was so dumbstruck, all she could do gape at the older woman's cleavage in wide eyed wonder, a silly grin making its way across her face.

"Oh, c'mon, honey, I know they do appear quite imposing upon first glance, but don't worry, they're relatively harmless. And, I promise you, they're completely house trained, so there's no danger of attack." she said with a hopeful wink. When there was still no response, she continued, "It's just this damned bustier, honey. It pushes them up so they look lots bigger than they really are. Not that they're nothing short of humongo even with no aid whatsoever from a support device heaving them skyward."

"I'm sorry, Cee Cee," Victoria said shyly, "It's just really hard not to stare."

"I know. I know.", Cee Cee said, waving her concern away with her hand, "And, it's perfectly okay, baby girl. You're forgiven. I mean, that _is_ the usual reaction they get."

"I just... It's just... that I've never seen anything like them before."

Cee Cee grinned a huge grin that made her eyes crinkle up at the edges. "Few have, my dear.", she said. "I mean, you know, and lived to tell the tale."

Victoria giggled, "I thought you said they weren't dangerous."

"Oh, they aren't. _Now_. But back in their day, they slew quite a few good men."

Victoria shook her head, "I bet they did!" she said with a snort. "So, how do you keep them from... you know..." Victoria used her hands to make gestures in front of her chest as if she were spilling something into the floor.

"Overflowing? Bursting forth? Escaping?"

Victoria nodded, "All of the above."

"Well," Cee Cee said, making a show of looking around to see if there was anyone else lurking covertly in the room then leaning in and lowering her voice surreptitiously, "now, normally it's not a problem. If I'm wearing an evening gown and just pretty much standing still and singing, I can just wear a regular old brassiere and gravity takes care of everything. _But_, if I'm going to be moving around a lot and/or I'm wearing a gown or something that's off the shoulders, like the one I just took off, well then I have to wear some sort of foundation garment that is strapless... like this," she indicated the corset, "and, I have to put double stick tape on my chi chi's to avoid the show becoming a 'huge flop'. You dig?"

"A huge flop!", Victoria cackled, "Now, that's really funny!"

"Hey, don't laugh, kiddo. It actually happened to me once before and believe me when I tell you, it was _not_ pretty."

"Really? During a concert?", Victoria said, trying to contain her giggles. "I mean, were you actually onstage at the time?"

"Oh-ho, yeah. Right in front of God and everybody!", she said with a roll of her eyes, "See, bending over is a major no-no with one of these damned push up corsets, but that's exactly what I, like a schlep, did the night I had the 'blow out'. It was while I was singing 'At Last', someone down in the front row decided to hand a rose up to me on stage and instead of just squatting down to retrieve it like I would normally do, for some crazy reason, Lord only knows why, I chose to bend over to take it from him and it was like _Whoomp!_", she leaned over in the mirror and pretended to let her breasts spill out over the corset's top, "There they were: 'The Boobs from 20,000 Fathoms'! Nearly smacked flower guy right in the face with'em!" she said.

"Oh no!", Victoria squealed.

Cee Cee laughed. "Oh yes!", she said, "God, I'll never forget the expression on his face either. Sheer terror! Poor guy never knew what hit him." She shook her head at the memory, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "It was so mortifying. And, of course, about five flashbulbs went off right in my face before I even realized what was going on... so I'm sure there scads of photos floating around out there somewhere to forever immortalize the most disgraceful moment of my life."

"Wow! What'd you do?"

"Well, I have two versions of what happened next, the whitewashed version I tell in public and a private more shameful version that reveals the quivering little blob of Jell-O lurking inside me which I tell only to those I love and trust implicitly."

"Oh yeah? Which version do I get?"

"Victoria, I'm crushed!," Cee Cee said, melodramatically sweeping her hand up to her brow in mock consternation. Then, she 'collected' herself and gave Victoria an inviting smile. "Which one do you _think_, silly?"

"The um... 'the quivering blob of Jell-O' one?"

"You got it!", Cee Cee beamed, "You get the real, honest to goodness, warts and all version."

"Cool!", Victoria said.

"Well, I don't know if I'd go that far, but here it is: When it happened, all I wanted to do was run off the stage crying. Of course, I would never admit to this in an interview or anything. But, I was so utterly humiliated and embarrassed and... just downright ashamed by the fact that number one, I had been dense enough to let it happen in the first place and number two, five jerks down in the front row had actually had the nerve to take pictures of the whole degrading display. I couldn't believe people could be so cruel. I don't think I've ever been that close to losing it onstage. I had never been that embarrassed in my life and there I stood, nipples to the wind in front of thousands and thousands of people. I had never felt so vulnerable. And, all those damned flashbulbs had completely blinded me. It felt like it had been five hundred instead of just five... I could only see a bunch of white spots in front of my eyes. I blinked and blinked, but it didn't seem to help. So, what I ended up actually doing was taking the rose from the guy, staggering backwards a few steps with my arm slung across my chest, like this," Cee Cee said, giving the little girl a demonstration, "You know, to try and cover up the ta-ta's as much as I could while retaining some shred of my decency in the bargain. Then, I turned my back to the crowd and tried to regain a little bit of my composure while getting everything back in its properly designated areas. All this while still trying to go on and remember the words to that dumbass song, mind you. I started swaying back and forth to the music and acting like I was sniffing the rose or something equally idiotic like that, then when I turned back around,... and yes, I was still singing that damned song... I had pretty much gotten myself back under control and I was able to continue on with the show as if nothing had happened. The vast majority of the audience never even knew about it."

_Til those fucking pictures came out in the Enquirer the next week. But, let's spare the kid all __that__ trauma, shall we?_

"I can't believe you just continued the show after something like that."

"Well, it's like they say, honey, 'The show must go on'. And besides, I mean, what else _could_ I do really, when every single person in the radius of the first five or six rows were in utter and complete shock from seeing 'my girls' make their debut all up-close-and personal-like? At that point, the only thing_ to_ do was to try to get their minds off the whole tawdry affair by keeping some modicum of decency and decorum and continuing on with the show in a relatively ladylike manner and with some small semblance my self respect."

"But, how did you do that, Cee Cee? How do you get over something like that and go on?"

"Well, I have to admit, I was just so freaking pissed off- uh sorry, I mean mad. I was just _so_ mad that I couldn't _see_ straight and I think that actually might be what saved me. At least, partially. I mean, I'd be damned if I was going to give those flash bulb freaks down in the front row the satisfaction of seeing me flee the stage in tears and let them have yet another opportunity to take even more humiliating pictures of me. So, I made up my mind to stick it out... come hell, hapless hooters or high water. I made it through the night, finally, and, like I said, most people had no idea the incident ever even took place. And, when all was said and done, I have to say that I did leave the stage that night with some scintilla of my dignity intact. If I'd just run off crying like I wanted to do, I couldn't have salvaged that or gotten any respect from some of the lovely people who wrote wonderful letters to me afterward telling me what a 'trooper' I was for continuing the show in the face of such an extreme 'wardrobe malfunction' and how they admired my fortitude and resolve. I tell you what, though, I certainly didn't feel like a 'trooper' that night."

Victoria looked confused. "Wait a minute, Cee Cee. I thought you said that only the people in the first few rows actually saw it."

"That's right, sweetie. The ones further back couldn't see but, of course, the ones in front, who did see, blabbed to the Press and pretty soon it seemed like the whole bleeping world knew about it."

"Really? That's weird cause I never heard anything."

"Victoria," Cee Cee said, taking the little girl's hands in hers, "Honey, you're only 10 years old. Believe it or not, kiddo, life _did_ exist prior to 1978!", she said, eyes sparkling. "And, this happened long before you were even born, so I'm not surprised you haven't heard about it. It makes the rounds every few years or so, though, so I'm sure you'll hear something about it eventually. It's sort of become part of the Hollywood lore about me now. You know, one of the stories that surround celebrities who have been in the business for thousands upon thousands of years, like my own self.", she said, raising her brows and smiling at the little girl. "What my publicist would call the 'Cee Cee Bloom Mystique' or some such nonsense. I mean, it's kinda reached Urban Legend status now anyway. It was so long ago that no one remembers whether or not it actually even happened. But, I'm sure it'll make good fodder for a really boring Lifetime Movie some day."

"Oh Cee Cee, your life could never be boring."

"Well, thanks for the vote of confidence, kid, but I beg to differ. Anyhow, suffice it to say that I learned my lesson. From that time on, I started wearing the double stick tape and always squatting down to take anything someone wanted to hand up onstage to me. And, it may be a tad superstitious, but I've never sung 'At Last' in any show since then."

"That sounds like a terrible experience, Cee Cee, I'm just so sorry you had to go through all of that."

"It's okay, kiddo. Like I said, it was years ago. I had a rough time of it there for awhile after it first happened, but don't worry yourself about it, honey. I've been completely over it for a long time now."

_Yeah, keep telling yourself that, old girl, who knows maybe in a hundred years or so you'll actually start believing your own lie. _

"Well, that's good. And thank you for telling me the warts and all version. I'm glad you're okay now. And, if it makes you feel any better, I don't care what you say, Madonna has nothing on you!"

Cee Cee smiled, grateful for the change of subject. "Well, thank you for saying so, honey. And, maybe she doesn't have anything on me in the bazoom department, but as far as everything else goes, she outclasses me by leaps and bounds. I mean, other than these big old boobs of mine, the rest of my body, unlike Ms. Ciccone's, is a complete and utter disaster area.", she said.

"That's not true.", Victoria told her.

"Sure it is, kiddo, just take a look for yourself."

Cee Cee watched as the little girl forcibly cycled her eyes, which had been trained pretty much the whole time on Cee Cee's cleavage, over to look at the rest of her body, specifically the body make up she was wearing. It presented an interesting spectacle in its own right. Cee Cee's flesh was a light bronzed color where the dress had revealed skin, but the rest of her body was much paler. Her throat and chest were "tanned" in a wide angle shaped like the letter "V" down to the center of her cleavage, then the pancake ended and her skin was a milky white. There was a matching "V" of make-up that covered the top portion of her back and extended down to just above the back of the corset. Her arms were the color of alabaster from mid-forearm up. The corset was cinched in so tightly around her torso and waist that her flesh spilled out over the top of it on either side of her back.

She raised an arm and slapped at the flabby skin that hung from it with her other hand. "Did you know that once you reach thirty, your body decides it wants a life of its own?"

"Cee Cee, chill out. You don't look so old."

"I'm glad at least one of us doesn't think so.", she said and looked at herself once more in the mirror. "Well, now, doesn't _this_ present a pretty picture? I look like the inside of a melted Almond Joy... with tits!"

Victoria took one look at Cee Cee's face and cracked up, laughing so loudly she had to cover her mouth with her hand to contain herself.

"Sorry.", Cee Cee said and rolled her eyes. "I can never pass up an opportunity for a boob joke. Glad you enjoyed it."

"Well... you _do_ look kinda funny. All dark and white and... lumpy like that."

"_Lumpy_!", Cee Cee said in mock exasperation, "See there, now even you've deserted me."

"Well, it's true.", Victoria said with a snicker.

Cee Cee narrowed her eyes and gave her a fake glower. "Quick, hand me that robe over behind the door, before someone calls the "Fashion Police. And while you're at it, go ahead and shut it, too. I mean, we wouldn't want the stage hands to get an extra show now, would we?", she said with a wink.

Victoria did as she was told, then took the mint green robe with the fuzz around the sleeves off the hook on the back of the door and over to Cee Cee, who slipped it on over her underwear. Then, Cee Cee sat back down and went at putting globs of white cold cream all over her face and three plastic clips in her hair to hold it back from the goo.

"Cee Cee," Victoria said, tentatively, "I'm really sorry I kinda freaked out on you before."

Cee Cee chuckled. "You _kinda_ freaked? If that was just _kinda_ freaking out, I'd hate to see the full blown variety. I mean, I thought I was starring in a re-make of _Night of the Living Dead_ and someone had forgotten to tell me about it there for a minute, kiddo!"

Victoria fake punched her in the arm. "C'mon, stop it! It's just that I don't... I mean I can't... really explain exactly. I mean, it's like you're two different people."

_Where'd she heard __that__ before?_

"You know, honey, that's what everyone tells me.", Cee Cee told her, trying to shake off another chilly feeling of deja vu. Hillary had told her that very thing _so_ many times. "If it makes you feel any better, though, I don't really understand it either and I'm the one it happens to. I have no control over it... I just get out there and it, whatever the hell _it _is, just sort of takes over." Then, she laughed, "A little like being possessed, I suppose."

"I guess!" Victoria smiled and shook her head.

"Yeah, and I thank God for it every day. I don't know what I'd do if I ever walked out on that stage one night and it wasn't there."

"Do you ever worry about losing it?"

"Oh, only about 152 times a day.", Cee Cee smiled.

Victoria laughed.

"That's why I have my back-up girls and all my musicians from the show join hands with me and form a little prayer circle before every performance. And, I ask the Big Guy upstairs to bless us all with a good show and thank Him for everything He's given me.

"You pray, Cee Cee? Really?"

"Hey! Don't look so shocked, honey. Of course, I do. Just because I'm in show business doesn't mean that I'm not thankful and aware of my Maker and all the blessings He's seen fit to bestow upon me. In fact, I'd venture to say that people in this business need to pray more than any other. And, I have to give the Lord His due. I mean, He blessed me with this voice of mine, among other things," she said, winking at the little girl and reaching out to muss her hair, "and the least I could do is thank Him for it."

Victoria giggled as she used her hands to smooth down the hair Cee Cee had tousled. "You know, Cee Cee, I think that's really great."

"Well, it may be a bit old fashioned, but it was the way I was brought up. Ma may have made her share of mistakes, but raising me to be an ingrate wasn't one of them."

The child's features took on a wistful look and for a second Cee Cee was mortified.

_Way to go, you schlep! Mention your Ma when the kid just lost hers barely more than a month ago. Smooth move! _

"My mother told me that you hold people in your "thrall" when you perform, Cee Cee.", she said and Cee Cee relaxed visibly, "I didn't know what that meant til tonight."

"Well, you're way ahead of me, kid. I have no _clue_ what that means!", Cee Cee said with a chuckle. Then, she shook her head, "But, you know what? That sounds just like your mother. Typically, half the time I never knew what the hell she was talking about either!", Cee Cee flashed Victoria that brilliant smile of hers.

"That's one thing I always loved about my mother, she was so smart.", the little girl's voice sounded strained. Cee Cee knew it was hard for her to talk about this so close to it happening and all.

"Listen, honey, I wanted to say I was sorry if dedicating those songs to your mom made you sad. I didn't mean to make you feel bad. I really didn't. It was just a spur of the moment thing and when I did it, I didn't realize how it might affect you... or me."

The child did a good job of holding back her tears. Cee Cee was very impressed.

"I loved what you did, Cee Cee. Thank you for doing that for her. I know she would've loved it, too."

The strength that this young girl was showing to Cee Cee now was astonishing... especially considering that just moments ago, she'd been in such a state just from watching her perform.

_Guess you can never underestimate the power of a good unfettered boobs story!_

"Thank you for saying that, honey. It makes me feel a lot better to hear that from you. I _was_ only trying to pay a loving tribute to her. I only wish she could have been here to see it.", she said, her voice suddenly becoming gravelly.

"Oh, she was Cee Cee," Victoria told her, "I'm sure of it."

"You really think so?", Cee Cee asked, eyes shining.

"Of course she was, looking down from Heaven." Victoria said softly, "I could feel her."

"Really? You could?"

Victoria nodded. "Absolutely."

Cee Cee felt chill bumps raise on her flesh. "I knew it. I _knew_ it! I mean, I thought it had to have been just me but, I_ knew_ I felt her presence, too. That's the way I sang those songs I dedicated to her... like I was singing them just to her on a personal level."

"She felt it, Cee Cee, I have no doubt of that. I'm sure she knew how much you wanted her to be there and that's why she came."

"What a wonderful thing to say, honey." Cee Cee inhaled deeply, trying her best to quell the tears that were threatening to break free any second. "Your mother was the best friend I ever had. I think she knew me better than I know myself a lot of the time."

"I'm so glad that she said I could stay with you, Cee Cee. You knew_ her_ better than just about anyone, too. If there's anybody who could tell me what she was really like before I came along, it's you."

Cee Cee could feel her bottom lip start to quiver so she bit down on it, hard. She was determined not to cry. If the kid could take it, she could take it. So she steeled herself... doing her dead level best not to tear up. But it was proving more and more difficult by the second. This little girl was just amazing.

"You know what, Cee Cee?"

"What?", Cee Cee asked as she tried to busy herself by going back to wiping at the goop on her face with the sponge.

"I think it's gonna work out alright for us."

Cee Cee turned with what she hoped was a playful, non-teary eyed look on her face. "Oh yeah? And why's that?"

"Cause I already love you, Cee Cee.", Victoria said, simply.

"Oh, Victoria...," Cee Cee said, her voice thick with emotion. "You do?" She blinked furiously, trying to keep the tears at bay for a few more seconds.

Victoria nodded. "Sure, I do, Cee Cee. But, please don't cry!"

"It's okay. I'm fine. Just give me a minute.", she said, struggling to retain control. "I'm sorry. I do this kinda shit- uh stuff... all the time."

She snatched a tissue from the box on the table and blew her nose.

"So, what you're saying is...", she continued, inhaling a deep, calming breath, "that you really do care about me?"

"Of course, I do, Cee Cee. Don't be silly! I've always loved you... from the very beginning. You are the absolute best!"

Cee Cee's brows raised and her wet lashes blinked once. "But, you–", she jabbed a finger in Victoria's direction, "I mean, even at the Beach House?"

"Sure."

"After all the hell you gave me?"

Victoria giggled. "Yep. I couldn't let you off so easy... I had to make sure you took good care of my mom."

Cee Cee shook her head and chuckled softly, "Well, I love you, too, honey," she said, "and I always have." She didn't do too good a job of keeping her voice from shaking on the last part. But, she _did_ manage a smile, even though she could feel the dam finally starting to burst and the tears beginning to spill down her cheeks. At last, she gave in.

_Let them come._

Her lashes were thick with Vaseline, but even that didn't stop the mascara from running down her face in several black streaks. Except for what the tissue had managed to wipe away, Cee Cee's face was still pretty much covered in cold cream, her hair was clipped up in a dangling, messy heap on her head, her nose was bright red from trying so hard not to cry and petroleum jelly covered her eyes. She knew she must've been a sight. But that didn't stop Vicki from bounding over to hug her anyway.

"Please stop crying, Cee Cee."

As soon as Cee Cee glanced over at their reflection in the mirror, she stopped crying... and started laughing.

_Shit! It's "Beauty and the Beast"._

"What's so funny?"

"Us. Oh God, us," Cee Cee said and pointed her finger at the mirror "Just _look_ at us."

Victoria turned her head so that she could see both of their reflections. Cee Cee looked so ridiculous with all that white creamy stuff on her face and her eyes were black and greasy looking. And her bright red hair was standing straight up on the top of her head because of all the clips in it. Victoria, on the other hand, looked perfectly untouched, well, except for the huge smear of cold cream that'd somehow managed to lodge itself in her hair and on the cheek that was facing Cee Cee.

Suddenly, she was laughing, too.

To make matters worse, Cee Cee went into one of the songs she sang in her show... "I'm your Venus. I'm your fire. It's your desire."

After that she was consumed by a spasm of laughter that doubled her over in her chair. She had to lean over the arm to get her breath.

"Damn it, Victoria. I'm crying again and it's _your_ fault."

"Hey, don't blame this on me... I'm not the one who put that stuff all over your face!"

Cee Cee was laughing so hard, she could barely speak. "And you...", she screamed, pointing at Victoria. "You were actually worried I was turning into freaking Marilyn Monroe."

"Yeah, you're right, Cee Cee how stupid of me. You _do_ look like a complete schlemiel.", Victoria told her, looking quite pleased with herself.

Cee Cee stopped laughing and stared at the child for a moment, agape. "A schlemiel! Ex_cuse_ me? Where the hell did you hear _that_ word?"

"Where do you think?" Vicki teased.

That started the giggles again and Cee Cee pulled the little girl into her lap so she could give her a huge bear hug. "Well, you'd just better watch what you repeat that comes out of _my_ mouth, young lady! Luckily, that was one of my tamer ones!"

"Well, it _is_ true, you know... Schlemiel! Schlemiel! Schlemiel!", she squealed, and began inflicting a barrage of finger pokes to Cee Cee's gut.

Giggling, Cee Cee reached for the jar of cold cream on the table in front of her. Then, while trying to hold her own against the pokes, she went into her best Bugs Bunny impression, "You realize, of course... this means war."

In a flash, she had raked out a huge glob of the cream and smeared it all over Vicki's face.

"Oh, no you didn't!", Victoria cried, grabbing a big pouf filled with powder and slam dunking it into Cee Cee's cleavage.

Vicki jumped off Cee Cee's lap and said, "There! Now all you need is that "Agony of Defeat" guy from "American Sportsman" to ski down them."

Cee Cee closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath.

"Okay! That's it!," Cee Cee said like a declaration of war, "_No_body but _nooooo_body insults 'the girls' and gets away with it!" She searched madly for a weapon on the table behind her. "_You_, my dear, are dead meat.", she said and brandished a can of L'oreal Mega-Mousse in the little girl's face like a gunslinger.

And, before either of them knew what was happening, all hell had broken loose. Make-up flew everywhere. Glass bottles soared through the air to burst on the walls, tubes of concealer and liquid make up were squashed and ground into the floor by their feet. The noise level had risen so significantly that people outside the dressing room were beginning to wonder what was going on.

The wardrobe mistress finally found the courage to open the door and poke her head inside.

"Cee Cee? Everything okay in-", was all she got out before she was hit dead center in the face by an airborne pouf filled with white powder. She stood stunned for a second, her face looking for all the world like one of those mimes Cee Cee despised so much in Central Park. Then, quite suddenly, she sneezed one enormous sneeze and retreated back to the relative safety of the hallway.

Cee Cee and Victoria looked at each other with reproach. Then broke up into another swell of laughter that landed them on the floor in the middle of the little dressing room.

Cee Cee looked around at the damage they had inflicted.

The walls were blue and white and red with splashes of green and gold. The clothes racks had fallen into a mess of disarray on the floor. Cee Cee's "Otto Titsling" costume lay in a heap in one corner. The floor was slippery with globs of foundation and cold cream. A large bottle of Liz Claiborne perfume lay on its side on the table, the contents glugging methodically out all over the floor. A generous dusting of powder covered everything

"I think...", Cee Cee said with a grin, "we're in trouble."


	2. Chapter 1

**Albany, New York**

**August, 1990**

She knew it was a bad idea from the start- she and roller coasters had never gotten along. She looked into the camera mounted beside her.

"Garry, I can't _do_ this."

"_Cut__!_"

He stalked across the platform toward her.

"What the hell's the matter?"

She glared up at him, "This isn't _working_ for me!"

"Cee Cee you damn well better _make_ it work for you or we'll have wasted the whole fucking day. We're about to lose the sun as it is. So just do the damn scene and do it now- one take."

"One take, my ass," she mumbled just low enough that he couldn't hear her as he turned to leave.

Cee Cee looked at the track in front of her.

_Shit!_

A wave of nausea swept over her.

He turned back to her once more.

_No doubt noting that you're looking a little more green around the gills than usual._

"Cee Cee, it took us all day to get this set up and you are _not_ going to fuck it up, do you understand me?," he shouted at her.

_Well, we'll just see about __that__, won't we?_

"Yeah, yeah, Garry, I understand. But, you're making a big-assed mistake."

"Alright, let's start this damned thing. Move it people- and action!"

The ride lurched forward and Cee Cee froze. Then the blood drained from her face as the car started up to the top of the first climb.

_Oh well, if asshole wants to have puke all over his new fangled camera, that's just fine by you._

She was getting lightheaded.

_ Why are you doing this? All you had to do was tell him earlier and we could've done it against a blue screen- sitting still and __looking__ scared shitless. To hell with what people would've thought._

She'd always been afraid of heights and the last time she'd ridden a roller coaster was when she was eleven years old with Hillary in Atlantic City. That was all she needed to tell them, she could've just skipped the rest: that she'd made it over the first dip, then leaned out of the car and puked her guts out over the side. Hillary had put her arm around her and made her look away by pressing her face into the newly laundered dress Hill had been wearing. It was the only way to keep Cee Cee from tossing her cookies again. Hillary's dress had been ruined, but Cee Cee had been grateful.

Even now she remembered shivering with fear against the Downey smell of Hillary's sundress- and it brought on a fresh wave of nausea. Thirty years ago, she'd gotten off the ride with Hill's help- pale, trembling and crying. Hill had made it alright then, but Hill was gone now. What the hell could she do?

Her throat constricted.

_Shit! Why do you have to be so damned childish?_

She grabbed at the railing and held on until her knuckles turned white. She was shaking, little tremors going all through her body. Her lower lip was trembling too. And if that weren't enough, now her stomach had started to churn.

_If asshole wants the shot of a lifetime, he's going to get it_ _"Cee Cee Bloom puking her guts out all over God's creation". _

_ Film at 11:00._

The car crested the first peak, then went down, straight down. Cee Cee's stomach stayed at the top. She meant to scream "Cut", but "Shit" came out instead- along with her lunch, all over Garry's new camera.

Then, she fell back against the seat and passed out cold.

"Ms. Bloom? Ms. Bloom?"

Cee Cee opened her swollen eyes and looked into the face of a young stagehand.

"Are you alright?", he said.

"You mean besides being covered from head to toe in one of my more disgusting bodily fluids? Yeah, I guess so."

"You still look great to me."

She rolled her eyes at him.

_Oh please. Not another little boy who wants to get into Cee Cee Bloom's bloomers._

"You must be starved for live entertainment, kid."

"Here, let me help you out of that thing, Cee Cee." He smiled a doofey smile and held out his hand.

"Ms. _Bloom_.", she said, "And I don't need any of your frigging help, asshole!"

She climbed shakily out of the car and staggered toward Garry, who looked like smoke might come out of his ears any second.

"Sorry about your camera, I guess I should have told you I was afraid of heights. We'll do it against a blue screen tomorrow. Right now, I'm heading home."

She walked off the set, paying absolutely no attention to the epithets that he was hurling after her.

_This time he'll have to do what __you__ say. He has no choice. _

She didn't need this job anyway. She had enough money saved up to live well for the rest of her life without ever working again. It was just that she'd get so bored sitting around the house all day waiting for Victoria to get home from school.

By the time she reached her car, she'd started to cry.

_Shit. Good thing you're away from the set, honey- _

_ Wouldn't want them to see such an asshole side of our personality, now would we?_

When she started the car, she thought she was crying from simple embarrassment, but bythe time she got home, she realized it was just plain exhaustion. She hadn't stopped working since Hillary had died. And that had been nearly two years now. Cee Cee needed a rest in the worst way. If she didn't get one, she might just collapse one day on the set or something.

Who the hell wanted to see a movie about the wife of the man who designed the "Scream Machine", anyway? And why knock herself out like this for a flop?

But it _was_ work and that was all that mattered. She was damned lucky to have it.

Still, she realized she had to slow down. Spend more time with Vicki, the little girl barely even knew her.

_Why the hell not be bored for a change? If you don't deserve it, no one does. _

Now all she had to do was work up the courage to call Garry and tell _him_ that.

_Yeah, sure. That should be easy enough, right? _

_ Shit. _

When Cee Cee got home, it was only 3 o'clock. So she decided to take a quick shower before Vicki got back from school. Besides, the warm water always calmed her nerves when she got like this.

At least it always had before.

That's what she was thinking when she turned on the shower head and stepped into the tub. But for some reason, not this time.

Usually the warm water beating against her skin relaxed her, took the edge off, but this time it wasn't working. This time her mind refused to drift off into that quiet, fuzzy, comforting place it had always found so soothing. This time all she could think about was Garry.

What the bloody hell could she tell him?

Even though she and Garry could get on each other's nerves to no end, he was a great director. He knew what worked and what didn't and always managed to get the best out of his actors. True, he _could_ push Cee Cee's buttons.

_Oh God, could he!_

Sometimes he'd get her so mad she couldn't see straight and they'd blow up at each other, then stalk off to their respective trailers. But usually, when Cee Cee thought things through, she'd realize he was right. And she'd come out again and do the scene just as he'd said- and it would be kick ass perfect.

Garry was really a lot like her: stubborn and hot-tempered, but fair and caring at the same time. Not that she had the hots for him or anything- he was fifteen years older than Cee Cee was and married to a woman who was fifteen years younger than Cee Cee. But though everyone thought they hated each other, the fact was that Cee Cee respected Garry a helluva lot and really wanted him to respect her. She wanted him to let her use some of her ideas even though she knew his would probably work better. Not that she would ever let anyone know she thought his ideas were so wonderful- it would make her look uncreative. Besides, their arguments actually made the scenes better. Her adrenaline would start pumping and she'd go out and act her butt off. But, she couldn't help being jealous of his supreme good judgment.

By the time Vicki knocked on the bathroom door and said, "I'm home.", Cee Cee was knee deep in her self-perpetuating crisis as to what to tell him. Because she had now decided that she was completely sure that she did _not_ want to finish making that schlocky film of his they'd been working on for so _fucking_ long anyway.

She reached down and turned off the water, then stepped out to dry off.

It was going to be awfully damned hard to just call and quit. Especially when she and that son of a bitch had invested so much of themselves in the whole fucked up mess.

_ He's gonna be pissed, Bloom. He's gonna be major fucking pissed!_

Damn it!She _had_ to pull herself out of this funk she'd gotten herself into!

_Chill out, honey_. _Just chill the hell out!_

Cee Cee yanked her nightgown over her head and emerged from the bathroom wearing her white terrycloth bathrobe and a towel done up turban style on her head like everyone used to wear in all those old "Tits and Sand" movies from the '30's.

"Hiya Ceece, nice headgear.", Victoria said.

"Oh, hi honey. Thanks," she said, her brain lost in an absent haze.

"Cee Cee, what's the matter?"

She shook her head, trying to clear away the cobwebs and forced herself to concentrate and become alert again, "How did you know there was something wrong?"

"Your face looks funny..."

Cee Cee grinned a sideways grin, "And it doesn't usually?"

"...and you didn't have some kind of snappy comeback that I know I probably couldn't repeat."

Cee Cee smiled, "Sorry about that, honey, I didn't mean to check out on you there." She paused for a second. "You know what, Victoria, I just had a thought. You actually might be able to help this old broad out of a quandary."

"A 'Kwon' what?"

Cee Cee laughed, "That's just a fancy way of saying I'm in some deep shh... inola and I need some advice on how the get out of it, you dig?"

"Oh. Yeah, okay. Sure. What's wrong?"

"Come in here and I'll tell you _all _about it.", she said, putting her arm around Victoria's shoulders. They walked into the living room and sat down on Cee Cee's black and white leather upholstered couch, the one with the Andy Warhol of Cee Cee hanging on the wall behind it.

"Alright, this is the story, honey..." Cee Cee said, crossing her legs up Indian style beneath her robe. "I've decided to take a rest from showbiz for awhile so I can just be a full-time Mom to you instead. The problem is that I have to call my boss, the director, and quit, but I have no idea how to do it without hurting his feelings and making him mad. Any suggestions?"

"What's his name?"

"Garry."

"Just say, 'Garry, I quit.'"

"Honey, I wish it were that simple. But if I tell him that, he'll think it's his fault I'm quitting. But the truth is, it's not."

Vicki sighed, "Well... what do _you_ think you should tell him?"

"Oh, that it isn't his fault. That I just need some time off to be with you and take a rest from things for awhile."

"Cee Cee, why do you need to give him an explanation at all? If you're worried about how to say it, it might come out wrong. Besides, doesn't he work for you?"

Cee Cee smiled. "No honey. It's the other way around."

"Then tell him what you just told me."

"Yeah, okay. That sounds easy enough. Thanks, honey."

She walked to the telephone, picked up the receiver and dialed Garry. The phone rang in her ear five times. Six. She was just about to hang up when a voice said, "Hello?"

"Garry?"

"Yeah."

"It's Cee Cee- I quit."

She hung up by pressing down the rest on the phone, when she was sure it had disconnected him, she lay the receiver down on the table beside the phone.

If he wanted to call back to rant and rave about how she was such an inconsiderate mega-bitch, let him talk to the damned voicemail. And, besides, Vicki was right anyway. That shithead didn't _deserve_ an explanation.

Later that night, Cee Cee got the air popper out and popped some popcorn that tasted like Styrofoam.

It was Friday night, but Cee Cee didn't have a date.

That's the way it had been for some time now.

There hadn't really been anyone in her life since John. He had been the one and only man Cee Cee Bloom had ever truly loved. Even though he'd helped her resurrect her career, she could never get him to come back to her. Much to her disappointment.

John had always shunned a show business life and Cee Cee couldn't convince him that she wouldn't forever have to be the center of attention if they remarried.

_Stubborn bastard._

They remained close friends, but Cee Cee wanted more. It had been _so_ long since she'd had an intimate relationship with a man, yet she wouldn't trust any man except John with such a private part of herself. Even now that she knew it was impossible, she wanted him back. Bad. The urgency was made greater by the fact that she knew it would never happen. And she continued beat herself up over the divorce constantly.

Aside from all that, she was pretty fed up with the business and she was getting older. She even had a daughter to think about now. Victoria had calmed her down quite a bit. Cee Cee no longer felt the need to be the center of attention anymore. Vicki was taking over that niche of her life faster than she could've ever imagined.

Maybe John would be more receptive now than he ever was before.

_Damn, thought about that possibility so fucking many times over the last two years... Shit, honey, all your eggs, among other things, probably dried up and turned to dust long before that nauseating little Macaulay Culkin kid was even an itch in his old man's BVD's. Ah, who gives a rat's ass anyway? Like you would actually have the balls to pick up the phone and even call the bastard. _

_ Yeah, right._

_ And what would he say if you did? "I don't wanna go where you're going, Cecelia." _

_ God, what a cop out! What the hell kind of break up line was that?_

_Guess it got the job done though, didn't it, Bloom, you schlep?_

_Well, so what, Cee Cee. So what! You don't need the son of a bitch anyway, do you?_

_ Maybe it would be nice to get laid again, but..._

_ Ah, fuck it... you're just horny, that's all it is._

_ Your love life is shit as per usual and of course you're gonna go and get all hot and bothered and wish you had the fucker back._

_ But, it wouldn't work out. No, not at all. Remember how much John hated kids?_

_ Yeah, remember how much __you__ claimed you hated kids... but that was all for John's benefit. _

_ Well, if your body hadn't screwed you over, maybe you'd have one of your own now. Thank God Hillary knew you so well. Still can't believe she trusted you with the most precious, lovely gift anyone could ever give another. Shocking how much you love that little girl, isn't it, Bloom?_

_ Well, not really. Remember how much you wanted kids? Remember how you ached for them and how John made you feel like shit about being so selfish as to want them with your career and all?_

It was funny how she'd never told anyone just how much she really did want kids. Well, anyone except John and Hillary, of course. When she'd been married, she'd tried and tried to get pregnant, even though John told her that with her career, kids were a mistake. Eventually, she'd stopped telling him about it and just didn't take her pills. But she still couldn't conceive. After about six months of not taking any pills at all, she'd began to think that there might be something wrong with her. She had known that John was okay. He'd been married once before and had gotten his wife, Marsha, pregnant. But Marsha had gotten an abortion because she'd been a shitbrained idiot in Cee Cee's opinion. John had told her that Marsha had not wanted to have the child because she didn't think she could handle motherhood. Cee Cee, on the other hand, in contrast to everything everyone seemed to have ever thought about her, had possessed an extremely strong mothering instinct for as long as she could remember. She'd tried to tell John about it, but he just couldn't believe she was serious. Cee Cee Bloom could not possibly have one nurturing bone in her body. She was too obsessed with herself, at least according to him. That had been their first big argument and when it had blown over, Cee Cee had never mentioned it to him again. She'd tried to open up and she'd been hurt, so... she'd said to hell with it, she'd decided to just go ahead and get pregnant anyway. Just to spite John. But, it hadn't worked that way. She'd tried and tried. But nothing had happened. Finally, she had broken down and gone to the Gynecologist. And, after a rather lengthy and humiliating examination, he'd told Cee Cee that she had an 'inverted uterus' and was, therefore, sterile.

"A what?", Cee Cee had asked in disbelief.

"An inverted uterus, Ms. Bloom. Your womb is upside down, so, barring a miracle, it's pretty much impossible for you to conceive a child.", he'd told her matter-of-factly.

The look on Cee Cee's face must've betrayed her thoughts because the doctor had immediately changed to a sympathetic tone. "I'm really sorry, Ms. Bloom. There's nothing wrong with you, physically, to keep you from conceiving. The birth canal is large enough but it's just very difficult for an egg to receive fertilization when it is in the wrong place."

Cee Cee remembered feeling sick to her stomach. He had been talking about her insides like she had been some kind of lab animal.

"Your condition is a common one and is completely benign. No operations are required, but you are, for all intents and purposes, sterile. However, no other functions of your body are affected."

"Sterile?"

"Yes"

_Barren, that's what he'd meant. _

"So what you are telling me is that there's no way I can possibly have a child of my own, right?", she'd asked, trying to keep her voice from breaking with the huge sob she'd felt welling up inside her.

"It looks that way... yes. But, you could always adopt, Ms. Bloom. There are thousands of kids–"

"Yeah, right. I know.", she'd blurted, trying to hold herself together until she could leave his office. She remembered that she had started feeling a little light headed right about then. "Thank you, doctor."

She'd paid the bill mechanically and left the office, gotten into her car and burst into tears of complete and utter despair. She'd known that John would never adopt. He hadn't been the one who'd wanted the kids in the first place. Sometimes, to this day, Cee Cee still selfishly wished that Marsha had given birth to the baby, so she'd at least have had the opportunity to be the child's Godmother or _some_thing.

Who would ever have believed it, Cee Cee Bloom was barren. Oh sure, she could have probably had an operation to turn her womb right side up again, but to hell with that.

Cee Cee had always been utterly terrified of hospitals and operations and blood, especially her own. No operations for her, unless her life depended on it. And, no little baby to hold and play with and sing to and protect from the world, either. Just the rest of her life alone, without anyone to carry on her legacy, such as it was.

When Hillary had Victoria, Cee Cee had been ecstatic. She had been sure that she'd certainly get her chance at mothering. Especially at the beach house. But, as it turned out, Victoria had been a tough nut to crack. She'd resented Cee Cee from the word 'go' and Cee Cee had known it. She hadn't been used to the reaction she'd gotten from Victoria, who hadn't wanted anything to do with Cee Cee at all. At first, she'd just wanted her to pack up and leave. But, then things had gotten better and Victoria had seen that Cee Cee only had her mother's best interest at heart and she'd let up on her a bit.

Still, for several months after Hillary died, Cee Cee had been sure that Victoria hated her. Even though Victoria had agreed to live with her as Hillary's Will had said. It was only when Victoria admitted that she had cared about her pretty much from the beginning, once she'd gotten to really _know_ who Cee Cee was as a person, that Cee Cee felt better about everything.

Since it _was_ Friday night, Cee Cee said it would be okay if Victoria stayed up late with her. The two watched a video and when it was over Vicki got up to go to the bathroom. Cee Cee had just started flipping the channels on the TV when she heard Victoria yell for her.

"Cee Cee, c'mere. Hurry! Something's... wrong. I need you!"

There was an edge of fear in Victoria's voice that Cee Cee didn't ever remember hearing before. It reminded her of the time Hillary had been looking in crazed desperation for a picture of her mother's hands. The time she'd told Cee Cee she was afraid of dying. As long as she'd known Hillary, she'd never heard that tone of complete and utter terror in her voice. It sent a chill down her spine now to hear it coming from Hill's daughter.

Cee Cee leapt from the couch, sprinted down the hall to the bathroom and flung open the door.

"What is it, honey? What's wrong?"

Victoria looked up at her, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I'm _bleeding_, Cee Cee.", she said.

Cee Cee came in and shut the door.

"Oh shit. _Shit!_", she said and leaned back against it. She looked up at the ceiling, smiled and shook her head. "Oh my God.", she said, then put a hand to her forehead and snorted out a disdainful little chuckle. "Damn it. This is great. This is just friggin' great."

"What's the matter with you? Cee Cee, I'm bleeding internally or hemorrhaging or something. Why are you acting like this? Why are you laughing? I need to go to the hospital! Go call 911."

The older woman had to bite her tongue to keep from breaking out in a huge belly laugh right there in her face.

_Yeah, Bloom, that'd really piss her off._

"Hurry! Cee Cee, I'm... _bleeding_!"

"Honey, there's no need for anything that drastic, believe me."

"But, Cee Cee... I'm... I mean, there's blood all over my...", her eyes filled up and the little girl looked away from her. Then in a strained little voice, she said, "Please, Cee Cee... What's wrong with me?"

Cee Cee went over and hugged her.

"Nothing, honey. You're in perfect health, I promise."

"I don't believe you!", she said, sobbing. Then turning wet, accusing eyes back to Cee Cee, "You _laughed_ at me, Cee Cee!"

"I know. And I'm sorry, honey. But, I wasn't laughing at_ you_, I was laughing at me."

_Of course you handled this all wrong as usual. Damn. Garry's right. Garry's really right. Bloom, you can be __such__ a mega-bitch shithead sometimes._

"How old are you, Victoria?"

"I'll be twelve in September. But what does that-"

"If you can bear with me, I'll try to explain it all to you. Trust me baby, there's nothing wrong with you. I promise you that. You're absolutely fine. Right on schedule."

"Oh.", Vicki said, eyebrows raised in sudden comprehension, then a look of utter revulsion traveled across the young girl's face, "Yuck. I get it now."

"You do?"

Vicki nodded, "Yeah, it's my period, isn't it, Cee Cee? I got my period."

_Hot damn! She actually __knows__ about it! Maybe this won't be as bad as you've always thought it was gonna be._

Cee Cee nodded. "Yep, that's what it is all right, honey."

"So I guess you think I should be excited or something, right?"

"Excited? I don't know about that, Victoria. I mean I wasn't very excited when I got mine, I'll tell you."

"Well, I hate it already."

"Welcome to the club, kiddo."

"It's dis_gusting_."

"Uh-huh. But it happens. It _does _mean you're a woman now though, you know?"

"Yeah, but I wasn't done being a kid yet."

She looked down at the little girl.

"I know. I wasn't too overjoyed about my first one either, but you get used to it, honey. Believe me, you do. Eventually. See, I got mine when I was only 10 for God's Sake. But Leona had told me diddley squat about it and I thought I was bleeding to death or something. You know like what Sissy Spacek thought in _"Carrie"_? It was just awful."

"Some of the girls at school have already gotten theirs and everybody else is talking about how they can't wait to start and how wonderful it'll be and all that."

"Oh, so there are still those raving lunatics in the public schools, huh? Here I was thinking I'd cornered the market on weird by hating every minute of my monthly visits with Aunt Flow."

Vicki smiled. "Aunt Flow?"

"Sorry, bad joke."

Vicki shook her head. "No, I know just what you mean. But, I just don't get it. I mean I don't understand how anyone could look forward to... I mean, I think it's just...", she looked down at her soiled panties, "Ew... so disgusting, Cee Cee."

"Yeah, it sure is, honey. But, it's also a miracle in a way. You know to be able to have children and all. It's just not so wonderful to have to bleed buckets and cramp like you know what and stink to high heaven for 5 days out of every month. But we all have our crosses to bear, I suppose. We just have to accept it. Although, I do have to say that I totally agree with you. It _is_ one of the more disgusting aspects of being born a woman. On the other hand, it could be worse. I mean, like I told you before, it's nothing you need to be hospitalized for or anything like that. It won't kill you, even though it might feel like it will sometimes."

Cee Cee smiled at her and wiped the tears from Vicki's cheeks with her index finger. "Now, the question is, do I have any pads left?", she said aloud to herself. "I usually wear tampons, but we wouldn't want to gross you out even further now would we?"

Vicki shook her head vehemently, "Definitely not."

"Thought so. Luckily, I just happen to have a few pads on hand for emergencies. And looks like its a good thing too, because we seem to have just such an emergency here, don't we? I'll try to round some up for you, kiddo. And after I get you fixed up, I'll try to explain what's going on with your bod. You just sit tight 'til I get back, okay?", she said, standing.

Victoria nodded. "We learned a bunch of stuff about ministration-"

"Menstruation, honey."

"Yeah, that. We learned about that at school, but I forgot most of it. I guess I thought if I didn't listen, maybe it wouldn't happen to me or something."

"Victoria," Cee Cee said, shaking her head and wagging a finger back and forth in the child's face. "you can't fool Mother Nature."

The little girl laughed out loud. "Yeah, I see that now. I guess you can tell me everything I forgot, right Ceece?"

"Well let me just put it this way, honey, you're gonna wish your mom were still around, cause she'd be a heckuva lot better at this than me.", she said and headed for the other bathroom.

In her bedroom, she made a quick stop at her night table to fish out a thin, pocket sized book on the subject she'd bought in one of her infrequent "bursts of conscientious awareness" as she called them. The book was all about puberty and it was called Almost Twelve. She'd found it on sale at, of all places, a Christian bookstore one day last year when she was shopping for a 50th Wedding Anniversary gift for one of Leona's few "_Shiksa_ friends".

To Leona, _any_ non-Jewish woman, no matter what her age, was a _Shiksa_. Even though Cee Cee'd always thought the word was derogatory, Leona used it as a term of endearment.

That's the way she introduced people: "Cee Cee honey, I'd like you to meet one of my _Shiksa_ friends, Berneice" or "Cee Cee baby, this is one of my _Shiksa_ friends, Louise." Sometimes, she even used combinations, "Cee Cee darling, let me introduce you to a _Shiksa_ Gentile friend of mine..." Cee Cee shuddered to think how she would introduce someone like... Tina Turner. Probably something real catchy: "Oh, Cee Cee dearest, this is a wonderful _Schvartze_ _Shiksa_ Buddhist friend of mine. She's a singer, too. Did you know that?" _Schvartze_, in this case, being basically Yiddish for "nigger".

_Yeah, real endearing, Ma. Real fucking endearing._

Cee Cee walked back into the bathroom carrying the book, some pads, some clean underwear for the little girl and a couple of Anaprox in case she was having any cramps. She showed her how to fasten the sanitary pad into her underwear then turned to leave.

"Cee Cee?"

"Hmm?", she said, turning.

_Shit! Kid looks like she's gonna start up the waterworks again. What the hell have you done now?_

"I um...", Vicki said, her bottom lip trembling, "I mean... um... thanks."

Cee Cee smiled, "Not a problem, kiddo. You okay?"

She nodded, "Yeah. Yeah, I guess so, Cee Cee. It's just all so... gross and disgusting and... scary."

"I know, honey. Tell you what, how would you like to sleep with me tonight? You know, just in case you have any kind of bad dreams or an... accident or something, I'd be right there to help you out so you wouldn't be scared or anything. That sound okay to you, honey?"

"You wouldn't mind?"

Cee Cee shook her head. "Of course not, kiddo."

"But I mean, I might get your bed all..."

"It's okay, honey. I don't mind. It'll give me a good reason to change the sheets."

Vicki's eyes flickered with... what... joy? "Oh Cee Cee, that'd be great.", she said and rushed over to hug her tight. "Thank you! That'd be just great!"

"Gee, honey. It's not like I just told you you just won the New York State lottery or anything."

"I know, but I'm just so... I don't know..."

"Scared? Relieved?"

"Both, I guess. Mostly scared though. But you made it alright, Ceece. Thanks."

"Anytime, sweetheart. Anytime at all."

"Cee Cee?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, I mean... I was just thinking."

"Oh yeah?", Cee Cee said and raised her eyebrows. "Thinking about what?"

"I _always_ call you 'Cee Cee'."

"Well, yeah... that _is_ my name, you know."

"But, what if I don't want to call you 'Cee Cee' anymore." 

_ Oh God, where is this going? What the hell is she gonna call you? Big Tits?_

"What are you talking about, Victoria? I mean, what else could you call me?"

"Oh, I don't know. How about 'Mom'?"

_God! Oh my __God__! _

"Huh? Wh- What did you say?", Cee Cee asked, the color seeping from her face.

"Is it alright if I start calling you 'Mom', instead of Cee Cee? I mean, you _are_ my mother now, right? You _did_ adopt me when my first mother died and everything, didn't you, Ceece?"

Cee Cee nodded, but her whole body had gone numb. "Yeah... but I..."

"I mean you went to court and signed all the papers and stuff to make it legal, right?"

"Well, yeah but that's what Hillary said she wanted me to do... I mean I was just-"

"It's been nearly two years now, Cee Cee and I love you _so_ much."

Cee Cee's eyes were now beginning to sting. "Oh honey, I love you, too.", she said, in a throaty voice. "But, I'm not sure if–"

"You don't want me to start calling you that?", Victoria said, now looking like she was going to burst into tears along with Cee Cee.

"Are you kidding? Of course I do, honey. I mean...", she took a deep breath. "Victoria, there's nothing in the world I want more than to be with you, than to be your mother. And I would absolutely _love_ for you to start calling me 'mom'. But, are you really sure you want to? I mean... you know... we're not related by blood or anything. I guess what I'm really trying to say here is that I'm not your _biological_ mother, honey."

"I know, Ceece, but so what?"

"So, wouldn't you be a little uncomfortable calling me that? I mean, well... wouldn't it make you feel, oh I don't know... kinda weird to call me that?"

"No. Would it make _you_ feel weird, Cee Cee?"

"Course not. I'd be in hog heaven."

"So what's the problem then? I mean, you _are_ my mother now, right?"

"Well... yeah, I guess I am, sweetie, but..."

"And I love you just like I loved her... so why not call you 'Mom'?"

By now, tears had begun streaking their way down Cee Cee's cheeks, but somehow she still managed a huge grin. "Yeah," she said shaking her head and giving in to the little girl's line of questioning, "why not?"

_Damn. What a case! Even that Judge Wapner guy from that cheesy show, "The People's Court" could take some advice from this kid. She certainly was a whiz. And she was only 11 years old. God, imagine what she'll be like at 16! Cee Cee, you won't even be able to carry on any kind of pseudo intelligent conversation with her, she'll be thinking so far over your head you'll probably just piss her off or something. Well, you can certainly say this: her mother was __definitely__ a lawyer alright._

"Don't worry, though, I'll still call you Cee Cee some of the time, okay Mom?" "Okay, my angel.", Cee Cee said, pulling Victoria so tightly to her that girl's face was squashed against her bosom and stroking her hair lightly.

"Cee Cee! I can't breathe!", said a muffled voice from somewhere in the depths

of Cee Cee's cleavage.

Cee Cee laughed and released her so that she could hold her at arm's length and look into her face... she was nearly as tall as Cee Cee now and she was looking more and more like her Hillary every day. Cee Cee could already tell Hill's daughter was going to be just as beautiful as Hill had been, if not even more so. Cee Cee allowed her eyes travel over the young girl. She was growing up right before her eyes. Her body was filling out nicely, where once there had been only boyish shapelessness, she was now beginning to develop girlish curves and bulges in all the right places. Cee Cee could tell they would soon be shopping for a brassiere. She remembered when she was 12 and was thankful that Victoria's body hadn't gone completely out of control like hers had. Victoria's breasts were just tiny buds, but by the time Cee Cee had reached 12, she was already a D-cup. And, Leona wouldn't buy her a bra because she was afraid it would stunt her growth.

_ Smart, Ma. Real smart!_

It had been a nightmare that she really still hadn't gotten over to this day. She smiled a bit wistfully at the memory and silently thanked God that Victoria's puberty seemed to be getting off to a better start than hers had. Cee Cee brushed the stray hair from Victoria's face and leaned over to place a gentle kiss on the young girl's forehead. "Victoria," she said, "I think I love you more than life itself. Did you know that, honey?"

"Of course I did, mom. And, I love you that much, too, you know. But just cause I wanna call you 'Mom' now, doesn't mean you can go and get all sappy on me here, Cee Cee."

Cee Cee grinned. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry, honey. But, I'm just kinda new at all this mothering jazz. Am I forgiven?"

"You bet, but only if you'll take me to see _"Ghost"_ again tomorrow."

"You got it. A horny old broad like me _never_ misses a chance to see Patrick Swayze without his shirt, if you know what I mean."

"Sure do and neither does a horny young one."

"Watch it!", Cee Cee said but failed to suppress a burst of laughter. "Hey, what do you say, we hit the sack? This whole mother-daughter thing has really taken it out of me."

"Yeah, me too."

"C'mon, we might even dream of Patrick."

"That's what I'm counting on. Race you."


End file.
